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Too often in today’s society are people merely defined as their habits: he is a smoker, she is an alcoholic, etc., when these individuals are much more. Little attention is paid to what such people do, or what their particular stories are. In written work, though, as opposed to life, the characters can be examined, their vices scrutinized, and, eventually, all can be tied into the various stories’ prevalent themes. Such is the matter in Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case” and James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues.” The title character in Cather’s short story voyages from his drab life and home in Pittsburgh to the marvelous New York City, where he fully expresses his shopaholism. Under his father’s roof on Cordelia Street, Paul is dramatically oppressed; he dreads coming home at night for fear of his father. Paul, in one instance, rather than face his father’s accusations, stealthily entered the cold, dank basement, where he slept until morning (225). In New York, Paul is able to stay out however late he desires, doing whatever since he is completely free of h